It said the vehicles would initially be put to commercial use within Chinese cities but added it was also targeting foreign markets.

The company is one of several competing to sell “level-4 autonomy” buses.

The classification – set by the transport engineering body SAE International – refers to highly automated driving systems that can cope with most driving conditions, even if a human fails to respond appropriately to a request to intervene.

It is one step below the maximum level-5 tier, which extends to all driving scenarios, including dirt roads and unusual weather conditions.

It demonstrated their use in level-3 mode – where a human is expected to take control if required – at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport in February.

Image copyrightSoftbankImage captionSoftbank tested a bus it had bought from Navya at an airport earlier this year

Navya’s self-drive buses have also been put to use by others at Paris’s Charles de Gaulle airport, London’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, and the streets of Las Vegas.

Other companies, including France’s Easymile, Australia’s Intellibus and South Korea’s KT, have developed autonomous buses of their own.

One academic suggested that in the near-term, such vehicles had a greater chance of public acceptance than self-drive cars.

“Any vehicle that can be deployed in a well-organised and controlled environment and that can be controlled and regulated by authorities… is more likely to be the starter for this sort of technology, than ones which will be provided to [a single] member of the general public, who would not necessarily be closely monitored,” said Prof Natasha Merat, from the University of Leeds’ Institute for Transport Studies.

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